Women still face gender inequalities at work post-pandemic

By Claudine Mangen, Concordia University

The COVID-19 pandemic brought the longstanding economic inequalities between women and men into sharp focus. From the onset of the pandemic, up until the summer of 2022, economic gender gaps continued to widen.

Lockdowns and economic uncertainties created a perfect storm, leading to job losses and reduced opportunities for women in the workforce. The increased burden of caregiving responsibilities placed an additional strain on women, often forcing them to make difficult choices between their careers and family obligations.

The situation peaked in 2020 when women’s workforce participation plummeted to levels not seen since the 1980s. This decline marked a concerning setback in the progress women had collectively made in the workplace over the past few decades.

Now, looking back at how these gender inequalities have evolved since 2022, the overall picture is a bit more complex. The most recent data from Statistics Canada shows that, while gender inequalities remain fairly large between women and men, there are also some exceptions.

Inequality in the labour force

Economists refer to people who look for paid work as being “in the labour force.” In terms of men and women who were looking for paid work in 2023, gender inequalities have not changed since the previous year.

Like in 2022, men are still more likely than women to be in the labour force in 2023. By November 2023, 71 per cent of men were looking for paid work, compared to only 61 per cent of women.

What accounts for this gender gap? Women’s absence in the labour force is often referred to as a personal choice for taking care of children. Many couples, faced with high childcare costs, decide that one parent should stay home. Given that men’s take-home pay exceeds women’s, this parent usually ends up being the mother in heterosexual relationships.

However, what is sidestepped in framing this as a choice are the broader societal conditions that contribute to this choice. Women’s absence from the labour force is often not a choice, but the result of factors outside their control.

Read Full Story https://theconversation.com/women-still-face-gender-inequalities-at-work-post-pandemic-219089